iTunes Editors’ Notes

Following their historic collaborations on the 1966 tour of England and the 1967 Basement Tapes sessions, Bob Dylan and the Band reunited for the 1974 tour that produced Before the Flood. Dylan and The Band have always enjoyed a relationship of mutual respect and creative symbiosis, so it’s no surprise that the players sound right at home on this selection of tracks. Dylan tears into Band songs like “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” and “The Shape I’m In” with the same swagger and zeal that The Band deliver to Dylan songs like “Lay, Lady, Lay” and “All Along the Watchtower.” Even as played to a packed stadium, Dylan’s solo rendition of “Just Like A Woman” still comes across like a desolate cowboy lament. Between the acoustic numbers and the hard rock reinventions of “Blowin’ In the Wind” and “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” Before the Flood provides some sense of how exciting the arena experience can be if done right.

Customer Reviews

One of the greatest concerts of all time

by
savica

I was fortunate to see the tour in Los Angeles. It was Valentine's Day - they dropped a banner that said "Happy Valentine's Day Sarah," we all know how that ended. It is to this day one of the most memorable
concerts I have ever seen. The place was so supercharged and the performers were so into it you felt like you were on the stage. Thank God I can play this album and go back to those heady, heady days.

Darkness at the break of noon...

by
Browncoat Ka-Tet

By sheer force of will, with power and rage in his voice, Bob Dylan hits the road, HARD, with his first tour in eight years, documented here in "Before the Flood". With The Band making it all happen at his side, the Great Poet unleashes variations of some of his greatest "tales" with unbridled fury, charging forward hard and fast. And in the quieter moments in which he stands with only his accoustic guitar and harmonica to back him, the updated "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" and "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" sound as if they are new compositions, each charging along at a brilliant break-neck pace. Truely an amazing live album.

Bob Dylan & The Band, Before The Flood (Live)

by
Hawk2009

Bob Dylan has not ever sounded great voice wise, but on this album he sounds at his best. With the backup of The Band & along with their songs, this is one of the best albums to own. I have it on vinyl. Anytime you hear someone live you can really tell how good they are. And with the cost of tickets for concerts these days, it is a lot cheaper to buy a live album instead.

Biography

Born: May 24, 1941 in Duluth, MN

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

Bob Dylan's influence on popular music is incalculable. As a songwriter, he pioneered several different schools of pop songwriting, from confessional singer/songwriter to winding, hallucinatory, stream-of-consciousness narratives. As a vocalist, he broke down the notion that a singer must have a conventionally good voice in order to perform, thereby redefining the vocalist's role in popular music. As a musician, he sparked several genres of pop music, including electrified folk-rock and country-rock....